Japan's all-important lower house of Parliament has re-elected Junichiro Koizumi as Prime Minister following the November 9 general election that returned his coalition to power with a trimmed majority.

A panel of prominent US politicians and educators have decried what it called "America's ignorance of outside world," arguing that Americans' reluctance to study foreign civilisations could eventually become a threat to national security.

China has strongly protested against a decision by the United States to impose quotas on Chinese textile imports, with Beijing accusing Washington of violating World Trade Organisation (WTO) principles of free trade.